ჩინეთ-რუსეთის ურთიერთობა ევრაზიის კონტინენტზე: კონკურენცია თუ თანამშრომლობის ახალი ერა?

Purpose of this paper is to research one of the most controversial and widely debated issue.- Sino-Russian relations on the Eurasian Continent. The dynamics of the relations between those two countries is analyzed by portraying increased patterns of different types of cooperation mechanisms. The aim of the paper is to explain the nature of such mechanisms: economic integration projects, ad hoc diplomatic platforms, cooperation in international organizations, joint military exercises and other means of soft balancing techniques used by China and Russia.
Case study presented in the paper aims to research the cooperation between two regional leaders in the framework of the grand economic projects – Belt and Road Initiative.
Considering the fact that, this project overlaps with the “back yards” of both Russia and China – Central Asia – where Russia is presented with its own regional integration project and with military bases, skeptical views were raised concerning Sino-Russian cooperation. However, Beijing and Moscow continue to work closely around BRI. In order to explain this phenomenon Robert Pape’s soft balancing theory is proposed along with the hypothesis, that China and Russia cooperate in order to replace the liberal international order dominated by the West and to restrain the influence of the United States.
The aim of the paper is to raise awareness about importance of the soft balancing theory in the 21st century international relations in which the great power revelry has adopted a new face. With this respect, the case study presented in the paper is the important addition to the theory and leaves the room to expand it further.